A woman from Minnesota pled guilty to fatally shooting the father of her two children for a YouTube video. Monalisa Perez, 20, was pregnant at the time of the incident, and already had a 3-year-old daughter with Pedro Ruiz, 22.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Perez entered her plea in Norman County District Court to second-degree manslaughter for the death of her boyfriend on June 26th. Perez shot Ruiz with their 3-year-old nearby and recently gave birth to their second child.
The couple posted videos on YouTube since May and hoped their channel would grow. They usually recorded outside Perez’s home, where the accident happened.
Ruiz was holding an encyclopedia in front of his chest when she shot him. According to the police, she was standing a foot away from Ruiz when she shot him.
She called 911 immediately, begging for help while she watched over Ruiz. “We were doing a YouTube video, and it went wrong. Please hurry up. My God, hurry up, please,” she said, according to the transcript.
Perez said Ruiz practiced the stunt before with other books that halted the path of the bullet. She also said that he showed her a book with a hole in it, trying to convince her that it was a good idea for a video.
On her Twitter account, Perez wrote, “Me and Pedro are probably going to shoot one of the most dangerous videos ever HIS idea not MINE.”
If convicted, she could spend 10 years in prison.
This article was inspired by Minneapolis Star Tribune // Minnesota mother pleads guilty to killing boyfriend during YouTube stunt